Tourism threatens man's first moon steps

Buzz Aldrin, seen here walking on the moon in July 1969, and Neil Armstrong left about 100 items on the lunar surface. Now archaelogists say such items as urine-collection bags and space boots should be protected from trophy hunters (Image: NASA)

The sanctity of the first moon landing site is threatened by the dawn of a new race to put tourists in space, a US researcher says.

Dr Beth O'Leary, a space heritage archaeologist from New Mexico State University, says this includes the imprints of man's first steps on the moon, which were made at Tranquillity Base almost 40 years ago, and remain on its surface.

But she says US federal authorities are concerned any move to protect the site would be viewed as an attempt to claim sovereignty over the moon.

Yet she succeeded last year in having the state of New Mexico recognise Tranquillity Base as an historic archaeological site.

O'Leary says issues about preserving moon-based artefacts and landing sites need to be thought through before the push to return to the moon and space tourism see people again walking on its surface.

"If there is a not a framework or strategy in place that addresses preservation then things can go walking [and] become fodder for eBay," she says.

"Like any ancient ruin in Australia or the US you have to pay attention to the fragility of the site. It would be terrible if you could take a moon buggy and drive over it."

Left on the moon

With funding from NASA, O'Leary and her team have catalogued 106 items left on the lunar surface by the Apollo 11 crew using archival material from institutions such as NASA and the Smithsonian Institution.

The items listed under the Lunar Legacy project range from iconic pieces such as Armstrong's footprints and the US flag stuck into the surface to items as ordinary as urine-collecting bags and space boots.

O'Leary says the Apollo 11 mission had 20 kilograms of moon rock on board and because of damage to the module had only one chance for take-off.

"They were told to ditch everything they could and so started throwing things on the moon," she says. "We've predicted where they would fall in one-sixth of the earth's gravity."

She says the footprints would be preserved because there is no erosion on the moon, but suspects that because the flag was placed near the landing site, it would have blown over during take-off.

The condition of other items is unknown as extreme variations in night and day-time temperatures could have degraded materials.

While some items might be considered litter, O'Leary says something as seemingly unimportant as a "vomit bag" has heritage value.

"That was at the cutting edge of technology," she says, "How do you vomit in space? That technology in place on the moon is critical. There has to be criteria developed for what should be left there and what should be picked up."

O'Leary also stresses that space heritage is not just as issue for the US. She says there are an estimated 100 tonnes of foreign objects remaining on the moon from the US and former Soviet Union's Cold War space race.